God bless'm, but our Congressional representatives actually seem to be in bipartisan support of a fast train from Buffalo to New York City, hitting Syracuse and other major cities in between - as addressed by Rep. Dan Maffei in today's column. This is one of these cases where you just say: Finally (but only - as in a major only - if they keep the price affordable for regular folks).

Come on. It just makes ultimate sense. Flying is expensive, and sometimes miserable, since the mode is often via wind-buffeted puddle jumper. By the time you get done with the flight, you're burning up three hours or more anyway in getting to the airport, going through security, and then losing a wad of cash for the cab ride into Manhattan - or in the time it burns to take to ride a bus or subway to the city. A train would be an environmental boon, and would simply speak to the point Tom Freidman makes beautifully here: Other nations, long ago, realized fast trains make the best sense for regional travel.

But for a million stupid reasons, we've allowed train travel to wilt, in many ways isolating not-quite-major-cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. It would also be a way, finally, of really connecting Upstate with Manhattan - not to mention connecting these Upstate towns with one another (for what has to be a much cheaper fare). My gut feeling: Do it right, avoid egregious waste, but get it done.